Old Dirtbiker

I have been thinking long and hard about doing a post here but my friend wvridgerider who was with me at the time of the incident encouraged me to do a post.

A little background, I have been riding and racing dirt bikes for 46 of my 67 years without so much as a broken bone and no injury that would be considered serious.

I got rid of my dirt bike (1996 XR-280) about six years ago (just before I retired) and picked up a low mileage, well farkled DR-650.

I do not consider the DR to be a woods bike and only used it for back roads and gravel roads. I've ridden it about 25,000 miles in the 5+ years I have had it.

I have made some new riding friends thru ADV and about 3 weeks ago, I met wvridgerider and his friend Bob at Richwood, WV for a great 100 mile off road ride.
Since wvridgerider was off all week, we made plans to meet later in the week at Mahan, WV for some mostly single track riding. Another rider, tdrrider joined us for the ride.
As wvridgerider was putting on his shin/knee guards, I commented about that being a good idea. I led the ride since I was the only one familiar with that area.
We had just crossed over to the RT 61 side of the mountain and turned on a fairly tight ATV trail around the head of Johnson Branch.

I was in first gear at about 12 or 14 mph when I flet a huge impact on my lower right leg which caused me to fall on my left side.

The other two riders came running over and asked me if I was OK. I knew something was wrong and when we pulled my pants leg out of my boot, we couldn't believe what we saw.

I had hit a hidden backward facing stick that contacted my leg about 4" below my knee and at the outside edge of my shin bone.
The impact forced my foot and leg backward (see pic) with the tip of the stick slicing about 8" down the side of my shin and ending about an inch or two below the top of my boot. The wound was about 8" long, about 2" wide and an inch or more deep.

wvridgerider had good first aid kit and quickly put some gauze and an elastic wrap on the wound.

He wanted to call 911 but I knew it would take them hours to reach me and I wasn't in shock or light headed so I was able to the bike about 4 miles to a secondary paved road, another mile to a two lane highway, and about 8 miles to a friends house where I could safely leave the bike. The friend took me about a mile to the local ER.

I called my wife and she found me in the ER. She did take a picture of the would which is extremely gruesome and will not be posted here.
The ER thought I had two small bone cracks so they sent me to another ER about 15 miles away.

I laid around the second ER for about two hours without anyone even looking at the wound. Finally my wife asked one of the nurses if they realized the severity of the injury. They were under the impression that it was a small puncture wound.
My wife showed them the picture which got me some immediate attention. The injury did require surgery, 34 staples and numerous sutures but I was out of the hospital the next evening.

47 hours after the injury, I was in my daughter's van with my foot propped up on the center console headed for the beach at Nags Head, NC.

I was lucky in that I had very little serious pain but will not be allowed to put any weight on the leg for about six weeks. What a bummer during riding season.

I hope I haven't been too detailed and boring but if you take anything away from this, please use ATGATT.

here is the wound 14 days after the injury and just before the staples were removed.

This is my side panel where my boot straps were pushed against it during the impact.

I wear motocross boots everywhere, even for street rides...I look like a tool but they're comfortable and I feel safe in them. They provide good shin protection and they're plastic so thorns and things don't snag on them. Saves me the trouble of putting on separate shin guards. Currently on the lookout for a set of easy to use kneepads that won't interfere with my MX boots.

I was wearing street type boots which afforded some protection but not as much as MX boots.
In this case, it wouldn't have made any difference since the entry started high and ran down the leg. I have a good set of MX boots and there is very little if any difference in height.
I had tried twice this spring to wear my MX boots but they were just too stiff and uncomfortable. I even tried some mink oil to soften them up without any success.
As soon as I'm on my feet again, I'm going to start wearing my MX boots around the house to see if they will loosen up enough to be used.
Thanks for all the well wishes.

ALWAYS wear your MX Boots and Shin Guards! I too have been doing this for over 53 years and when I was young and bullet proof, I wore the gear during competition, but not all the time when I rode recreational. As we get older, and you know this too, we don't heal like we use to.

Thats me in the white (taken a few years ago) and note my mx boots and shin guards...also consider your elbows too. Smackin them aint so funny, as they say. Heal up and get back out there.

Hey ragtoplvr, one of my riding buddies heard the offending stick break off, so it should not be an issue for other riders.

I was surprised at the requests for the injury picture. I didn't post it here for a couple of reasons:
1) the rules for this topic specify "no gore"
2) I don't like to see it myself. I have sent it to some friends and family but try to cover it up with one hand when I do.

I'll be willing to send it to anyone that requests it with the understanding that it is not to be posted on ADV.
Just PM me with your email address and as long as the requests don't become overwhelming, I'll send it.

Hey ragtoplvr, one of my riding buddies heard the offending stick break off, so it should not be an issue for other riders.

I was surprised at the requests for the injury picture. I didn't post it here for a couple of reasons:
1) the rules for this topic specify "no gore"
2) I don't like to see it myself. I have sent it to some friends and family but try to cover it up with one hand when I do.

I'll be willing to send it to anyone that requests it with the understanding that it is not to be posted on ADV.
Just PM me with your email address and as long as the requests don't become overwhelming, I'll send it.

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I can attest to the fact that is indeed, gruesome. And that wvdirtbiker is an absolute beast, I can't imagine how much adrenaline he had flowing through him that enabled him to ride out of those trails and on to a hospital.

I wear motocross boots everywhere, even for street rides...I look like a tool but they're comfortable and I feel safe in them. They provide good shin protection and they're plastic so thorns and things don't snag on them. Saves me the trouble of putting on separate shin guards. Currently on the lookout for a set of easy to use kneepads that won't interfere with my MX boots.

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I'm starting to go in this direction of wearing plastic toed and leather upper, really tall Acerbis mx boots all the time as well. I went for a hike in them and that fully broke them (me) in. I can say that they have saved me from a twisted ankle/broken tib-fib. I planted my foot in a grass covered hole and had the bike fall over on me. Avoided some broken toes from hidden grass covered rocks too. If you have big enough pant legs, or some old bell bottoms from the 70's they fit over the boot, and there are some not bad looking black mx boots out there.

WVDIRTRIDER, you say MX boots wouldn't have made any difference, did this massive punji stick rip through your boot upper leather as well?
4" below your knee sounds almost like where most tall boots end, and knee pads start. That area is almost a proverbial Achille's heel.
Here's to a speedy and complete recovery

I'm starting to go in this direction of wearing plastic toed and leather upper, really tall Acerbis mx boots all the time as well. I went for a hike in them and that fully broke them (me) in. I can say that they have saved me from a twisted ankle/broken tib-fib. I planted my foot in a grass covered hole and had the bike fall over on me. Avoided some broken toes from hidden grass covered rocks too. If you have big enough pant legs, or some old bell bottoms from the 70's they fit over the boot, and there are some not bad looking black mx boots out there.

WVDIRTRIDER, you say MX boots wouldn't have made any difference, did this massive punji stick rip through your boot upper leather as well?
4" below your knee sounds almost like where most tall boots end, and knee pads start. That area is almost a proverbial Achille's heel.
Here's to a speedy and complete recovery

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Thanks woofer, the point of impact was about 4" below the knee but it pushed my leg and foot backward so the cut ran down my leg and into my boot. It's possible the boot caused the stick to break, but that's something I'll never know for sure.

Hey man, thanks for the wright up.
Glad that you are healing up well.
On the trails & FSR's I always use the gear i have, shin/knee pads, boots & upper armor.
.......but they always make a smarter obstacle

Thanks for sharing this WV. I don't read face plants to seed my mind or exaggerate caution. It just helps me keep my perspective in balance and appreciate how much I've survived or oft times simply been lucky. A healthy, working body is a wonderful thing.

I can't begin to catalog all the strange accidents and injuries I've witnessed over the years, a few of them mine. I once spent several hours waiting in an ER with a somewhat similar wound because the heart attack and eye puncture patients had priority, and I was fine with that. But I hear what you're saying. Strange things happen and it's best we do what we can to minimize the consequences.

I just picked up some nice knee protection and you re-enforced my quest to keep refining my gear. Thanks again for posting, and speedy, thorough healing to you. I hope you're already walking on it, or soon.

Hi, sorry for your injury. I have the same knee/shin guards as in your picture. They fit perfectly inside my moto x boots. I had the same issue with mx boots at first. Just couldn't wear em, didn't think I could shift, feel the pegs etc. Felt like moon boots. I happened to watch a youtube vid on breaking in mx boots and it made a hugh difference. He basically spent 10 minutes flexing the ankle forward and backwards and flexed the toe section a bunch of times. It works, I wear them all the time now.